(Post 1/2)

Yeah so i've watched it a lot .. since it came out in 2005-ish. Periodically of course. Gotten every season on my comp now, give or take a few episodes.

I've got two (three, though, lo, don't use the tv much) screens, one that i run shows and movies on, and the other to game and chat. Play HK on the other screen for a long time now. Doing a second rewatch of all seasons.

For a show like hell's kitchen, at least to me, it's best to not watch it straight up, i mean it's best to game or do something else beside it. One of the biggest reasons for this, again, to me, is the very fast-paced camera shifting. That is relentless in this series, and makes it impossible to watch straight up. I mostly listen to it, and occasionally watch when there is something interesting.

The production is of course quite cheesy, it's mostly about ridiculing the contestants, which is also from the original series Kitchen Nightmares UK. If one managed to look past all that, one can see the people behind the editing, and that can be interesting. Some try harder than others, and some are downright evil, lol.

Some also have skills, which is fun to watch.

Gordon is of course all about pushing everyone past their breaking points. And that is also interesting to see, how people handle that. I believe he watches everything, i.e. when they live in the dormitologies, he gets all the feedback. And he sometimes waits for the right time to really push someone and make them screw up, so he can kick them out. Season 4 is a prime example of this, like with Ben and Bobby.

A quick run-through of the seasons progressions:

- Season 1 i think is the easiest to watch. The editing isn't so crazy there, the music not so prevalent and obnoxious. But there are few contestants and not that interesting to watch.

- S2 got a bit more interesting, adding more crazy characters, like Tom and Keith. But the general level of talent is cripplingly low.

- S3 added more skilled chefs, and showed that there are people that has the personality to be great, but simply doesn't have the training (Julia).

- S4 is when Gordon really starts going crazy on them ^^ He "heightens the level" so to speak ... The editing gets crazier here, but it's still watchable, and i think S4 is probably the funniest seasons, with a lot of weird and crazy characters doing a lot of weird things ^^ Gordon humiliates them in many ways xD

- S5 has the most talented initial chefs, and is interesting to watch, except the crazy editing.

- S6 is when, to me, it starts going overboard. Gordon acts a bit out of place, like he doesn't care as much anymore somehow, or maybe even is tired of it. Even if he gets super pissed all the time ^^ There is a lot of talent here too, but they still mess up - that's of course part of the game .. GR piles on the pressure all the time.

(Post 2/2) And from there on out, the editing is just crazy all the seasons, way too fast-paced, and there's a plethora of weird characters. They should have stuck with the format of the earlier seasons, keep it a bit more to the ground.

It took me a lot of time to get over the most annoying personalities, like Lacey in s5, Suzanne in s6 and Elise in s8. I never knew there could exist such obnoxious people, and i hope, for all it's worth, that at least 50% of their personalities is an act, told by the production crew to act more obnoxious than they are in the real world. It's hard to believe someone can be so oblivious, ignorant, and downright evil. It can make some of those seasons almost impossible to watch. It does show that no matter how "cruel" or "cool" one wants to be, it won't matter if you can't show at least a sliver of respect for other people, to win their respect and trust. You will get cast out for it.

But for all this, it's fun to see how fast-paced professional kitchens work. I've read several times that what we see, is a fraction of what they are really put through. Melissa from s3 has an interview (google it) where she says GR was very unfair and screamed evil things all the time. I think he -is- unfair a lot of the time. And one has to take that a bit into account regarding the contestants' attitudes. But that's what i think a lot of the contestants misunderstand. He only does that to see if he can get under your skin. Because he wants to see if you can deal with that kind of stuff, because some people are like that in the real world.. without any conscious. And he wants to see how you deal with that. If either you are composed enough to not let it affect you -at all-, or if you are abrasive enough to work through it and answer him back at the right moments, i.e. dealing with it as a leader. People that let it get to them, simply don't last long in the competition. Then again, some personalities thrive under extreme pressure, and that is fun and inspiring to see - especially when they have a good attitude as well. People like that are rare.

I am also at least 80% certain that the contestants are offered money by the producers to do certain stunts or do weird acts at times.

And of course, lastly, if one sees through all the drama and editing, there is a lot of tips and things to learn about food in the show. One can pick up a lot of advice.

This post was edited by Taurean on Feb 10 2025 11:33pm

Liked the show, then it became tedious and repetitive and over dramatized, just like Big Brother or those Survivor shows.

Good way to learn about cooking, however too much tension in comparison to when I cook, plenty of other cooking shows with less drama etc.

how do you talk about hell's kitchen and not bring up raj lol

Dont forget elise

Well you know i think that Raj probably is good at his craft outside hk.. in hk there is just so much pressure going on, so many other personalities, and sometimes people that are downright evil lol..... it brings up something .. trevor is in the same season as raj. And trevor is the first to try to work with him and help him out. Yet he gives up after just 1 episode and starts harassing him a lot. Yet trevor during the season, and the later season too (rookies vs veterans) is harassed quite a bit himself. And in the later season, he complains about that being an issue. So that's a bit of a karma thing. It wasn't necessary for him to harass raj to that extent.

But yes, i think many people just act weird and try to mess around, they know they're not going to win so they just start acting weird. And it doesn't last long, lol. It would be fun to see him make it further, he wasn't evil.




Yeah, just watched the all stars season, she is just downright evil. In the real world she would get straight up messed up if acting like that. Worst thing about it? She's a third decan taurus like myself, same age, not many days apart. Lol. Some different placements but also some similar. That's scary. If i was to go on hk, i would never take that line. I would try to be the complete opposite. And that's what i try to figure .. if she had been positive minded instead of negative, i mean that would be 10 times better, she would get much farther.

The worst thing about it is Ramsay endorsing her personality, just because she causes stress and in his mind "pushes" the others, he keeps her around. It's not true though, it just causes the others to mess up more since it diverts attention. That's one fault with gordon, he thinks that whatever pressure is put on you, is going to make you work harder and thus get better. But that's not true. If it's purely negative pressure, it can make you mess up more, thus harm your confidence. So he has flaws too.

It's really crepid to watch better chefs get sent home and she still there, just because of her attitude. He really is contradictory at times.

Lol i also wonder why the team members tolerates it. Everyone should just give her hell all the time, she wouldn't be able to stand that.

This post was edited by Taurean on Feb 25 2025 08:34pm

Ramsay probably just kept her around for the show.